Improvised sign, 'TO CEMETRY' : Pozieres, France

Sign constructed of timber and painted white with the words 'TO CEMETRY' [sic] and a left facing arrow drawn onto the sign in graphite pencil. The notice board shows considerable damage, especially around the edges. There are two nail holes located centrally at the top of the sign and two at the bottom of the sign which had previously held the notice board to a post.

Pozieres, a small village in the Somme Valley in France, was the scene of bitter and costly fighting for the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions in mid 1916.

The village was captured initially by the 1st Division on 23 July 1916 and for the following three days, 24 to 26 July 1916, the Germans relentlessly bombarded the village. Despite this, the Australians continued their advance and on 25 July the old Pozieres cemetery, to the north east of the village, was captured by the 8th Battalion as part of their orders to seize the area north of the cemetery. The attack was launched at 3.30 am from the village. By 5 am 'D' Company had reached the objective north of the cemetery and not long after 'C' Company also reached their objective in the north east.

This sign indicated the direction of the cemetery from Bapaume Road. The cemetery was originally a small hedged enclosure with stone vaults and ironwork crosses. However, it was destroyed by the heavy shelling and by the end of 1916 there was little left. It was however, still an important reference feature facing the Old German (OG) Lines.

This sign was made and installed after the Australian forces left Pozieres in September 1916. It was collected by the Australian War Records Section on 16 September 1917.